Calif. Fish And Game President Removed Amid Mountain Lion Controversy

VENTURA (CBS) — The California Fish and Game Commission unanimously voted for a new president Wednesday, five months after a controversial picture was released of ex-president Dan Richards posing with a dead mountain lion he killed.

Richards was caught in the cross-hairs of animal rights and conservation groups, because while hunting and killing a mountain lion is legal in Idaho, where his hunting trip took place, it’s illegal in California.

“It’s a symbolic insult to the voters, saying ‘Yeah, look at me, I’m the president of the Fish and Game Commission, and I’m going over here and I’m going to wave this dead cat in your face,’” said LA’s SPCA president Madeline Bernstein.

Richards responded in a March interview with radio talk show hosts John and Ken.

“We have aggressive, well-organized, well-funded, what I call the ‘enviro-terrorists.’ They’re constantly trying to shut down gaming in the states… fishing and hunting,” he said.

Richards did have his supporters at a Fish and Game Commission meeting back in March.

“I’m here to support Richards, and I think the whole thing is shameful to ask him to step down,” said one supporter.

A group of Republicans at the State Capitol signed a petition in support of him, but it wasn’t enough.

Although he’s no longer president, Richards will still be a member of the Fish and Game Commission.